Michelle Betham - Shirley Valentine Goes to Vegas

‘Red again. Or do you want to choose this time?’ I asked, my excitement reaching child-like proportions now.

‘No. What the lady wants, the lady gets.’ Eddie smiled, his eyes meeting mine for a brief and surprisingly intense second. Enough time for me to know, for sure, that I was done with the alcohol for tonight. I really needed to keep my head as clear as possible. I could cope with slightly woozy, but any more than that and I knew I was going to forget too much of tonight. And I didn’t want to forget any of it.

‘Stick it on red then, handsome,’ I whispered, lightly kissing the back of his neck.

‘You’re killing me here, darlin’,’ he murmured, reaching behind him to rub my bottom. Oh yes! No way did I want to forget this night!

I felt his hand slide into mine as the ball once more bounced into the red, and I let out another tiny squeal of excitement, squeezing Eddie’s hand probably a touch too hard.

He let go of me, leaning forward to retrieve our winning chips, scooping them up and dropping them into his pocket.

‘Come on, kid. We’re quitting while we’re ahead.’

‘We are?’

I let him take my hand again as we headed out of the casino. And it wasn’t until we were back outside in the hotel’s sprawling foyer that he stopped, swinging me around to face him, reaching out to cup my cheek in his hand. ‘You ready to call it a night yet, darlin’?’

I stared up at him, those dark eyes of his boring into mine, that intensity I’d sensed before coming back with a vengeance now. ‘I’m not sure,’ I said slowly, and then inwardly shook myself, taking a very quick, very deep, breath. ‘Tell you what… Let’s go grab a whisky or something. Outside.’ I didn’t really fancy another drink, but I didn’t feel much like letting him go just yet, either. And this was the only compromise I could come up with on the spurofthemoment.

‘Suits me.’ He shrugged, letting me lead the way out to the pool bar. But the second we were outside he stopped, pulling me back into his arms. ‘What are you scared of, Lana?’ His mouth was already closing in on mine, and I felt my heart start to beat faster. Harder. Louder.

‘I’m not scared of anything,’ I breathed, grabbing onto his jacket collar to steady myself as my knees started weakening again. I was still putting that down to Eddie. To this. To everything that was happening. Was that what I was scared of? This ?

‘I think you are,’ he whispered, his hand in the small of my back, pressing me against him.

‘I thought we were getting a drink?’ And I wasn’t entirely sure why I was almost pulling back from this, because it felt good, being this close to him. It was everything I wanted. Everything this night had inevitably been leading up to.

‘In a minute.’ His voice had a beautiful, gravelly tone to it now, probably due to the cigarettes and alcohol he’d been indulging in tonight. It was so sexy I almost moaned out loud. ‘I’m not finished here yet.’

I closed my eyes, letting my hand fall loosely around his neck as his mouth lowered down onto mine, kissing me so slow and so deep I didn’t ever want to come up for air.

‘You are such a bad influence,’ I groaned, his mouth moving to my neck, brushing over it so gently, so lightly, it was crazy!

‘You don’t know how bad I can be,’ he growled, swinging me around so I was backed up against the wall, at his mercy, silently willing him to do all manner of unspeakable things to me, right there and then. I didn’t really care. Not anymore.

‘I’d quite like you to show me,’ I whispered, taking hold of his t-shirt and pulling him against me, smiling as my mouth rested against his. ‘Right now.’

Kicking my hotel-room door shut behind me, our lips still locked together, I fell back against the wall, my fingers burying themselves in his hair as we kissed. And kissed. And, oh God, we kissed!

‘You okay?’ he asked, pulling away only slightly, his breathing heavy, his fingers running lightly along the top of my dress.

‘I’m fine,’ I whispered, aware that my chest was heaving, and whether that was because his fingers were almost skimming the curves of my breasts, or whether it was because I was still out of breath due to our practically running here all the way from the elevator, I didn’t know. I just knew that, what was happening here, I was ready for it. I wanted it. I wanted him – this tall, dark, dangerous stranger with the beard and the bikes. My Harley Davidson-riding hero. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, and he looked at me, smiling too.

‘You sure? Because…’

I shut him up with a kiss, sliding his jacket back off his shoulders, hearing it fall to the floor with a soft thud.

‘Well, I think if we’re playing fair here, darlin’, then you need to lose some clothing too.’

I laughed quietly, my mouth still touching his. ‘I’m not wearing a jacket. You were. I’d say we’re pretty much even now.’

‘Oh, I gotta feisty one here.’

I closed my eyes again as I felt his hand slide up and under my dress, resting on my thighs. I bit down on my lip, our eyes locked together as I silently gave him the permission he was looking for.

‘You sure you’re okay with this?’ His gaze dropped to my still-heaving chest, the fingers of his other hand sliding just underneath the top of my dress, causing me to gasp out loud as they touched my breasts.

All I could do was nod, the need to take this to its somewhat inevitable conclusion achingly painful.

‘I’m okay with this,’ I whispered, aware that he was tugging at my knickers, and I helped him slowly slide them down until they gathered around my ankles. Kicking them away, I stared into his eyes as I pushed my dress down over my breasts, my hips, letting that drop to the floor too, stepping out of it, leaving me naked, bar those spike-heeled boots. And I felt nothing but a sense of overwhelming freedom. No fear. No nerves. I was naked, in front of this man I’d only just met, and I felt incredible.

‘Oh, Jesus, Lana, sweetheart… you truly are beautiful.’

Yeah, and so was he, in that rough, edgy way I was finding so sexy. But, right now, I was done with the talking. It was time for the action we’d probably both been looking for since the second we’d met in the elevator just a few short hours ago.

I backed right up against the wall, raising my arms above my head, closing my eyes as his fingers slid between mine, his mouth gently brushing over my neck with kisses so light I couldn’t help but moan out loud.

‘Are you sure, Lana?’His fingers tightened around mine, and I had a feeling that, as long as he kept talking to me, his voice could more than likely bring me to orgasm without him even having to touch me. But I wanted to be touched. Oh, God, did I want to be touched! ‘Really sure?’

I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I didn’t want to think about the reality of the situation – that we were, quite obviously, going to have sex and then our lives would go their separate ways. I didn’t want to think about that. I just wanted to do this. For me. This man, he wanted me. I wanted him. We both wanted this . Even if we had only known each other a few hours.

I nodded, and then he was holding me tight, his mouth crashing against mine with a force that literally took my breath away as he lifted me up, my legs wrapping firmly around his hips. I should have been scared. Or at least had the decency to feel just the tiniest hint of nerves – I hadn’t had sex in so long, not since I’d left Adam. I hadn’t even wanted it. Until now. Until this very second.

Throwing my head back slightly, my eyes closed again as his mouth moved down to my breasts, covering them in the lightest of kisses, his rough beard tickling my skin, and I couldn’t help giggling slightly, a giggle that fast turned into a long, low, drawn-out moan as his tongue circled my nipple, causing goose bumps to break out in epic proportions all over my skin.